The Brown School

The Brown School. , The earliest story on record of educating local African American students began ca. 1869, when the Manassas Village Colored School opened on the corner of Liberty and Prince William Streets. This two-room frame structure was a private school, offering classes in the primary grades. Not long after opening, the entire building was moved to a new lot on Liberty Street. Funding came in part from the local community as well as The Friends Association for the Aid and Elevation of the Freedmen, a Quaker institution in Philadelphia., In 1872, the name of the school was changed to Brown in honor of Mary Brown, a member of the Society of Friends (Quakers). The newly named institution also became a public grade school, the second one in Manassas and the first for African American students. The Brown School was in operation on Liberty Street until 1928, when a new school with the same name opened in the vicinity of 9415 Prince William Street. The second Brown School, also segregated, remained in operation until 1954. Today the building that housed the original Brown School still stands on Liberty Street as a private residence., [Sidebar:] , In 1954 the Supreme Court ruled segregating schools by race was unconstitutional. Towns were required to integrate "with all deliberate speed." African American children from neighboring counties who had been attending Manassas Regional School for their secondary education, began taking classes in their own jurisdictions. Prince William County, now operating schools with fewer students, decided to consolidate. Brown School closed and students began attending classes in buildings on the campus of the Manassas Regional School, the former Manassas Industrial School. Finally, in 1960, African American students got a new facility on that campus, naming it Jennie Dean High School. Prince William County schools did not integrate until 1965. Jennie Dean still stands, but is now an elementary school., [Captions:] , This passage from the minutes of an 1872 meeting of the board of the Manassas School District shows that funds were spent on schools for White children before any attention was given to those for African American students, often resulting in no money being available for Black schools., Manassas Regional High School graduating class of 1956., Julius Rosenwald was a philanthropist who provided funds to build over 5,000 state-of-the-art schools for African American children across the rural South. The second Brown School in Manassas was a Rosenwald School. , ,br> The Brown School, ca. 1950. When it was built, this was the only grade school for African American students in Manassas. Today, this building is a private residence.